Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center | Gainesville, Fla.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/11/19/2539448.PDF> | Season Stats<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/11/15/2024-25_UFstats.pdf> | Courtesy Photos & Press Conferences<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/rb8ojhaf9ygpi6d0k3c9e/ANF6-ow4Wppu1j1zjAsnMXA?rlkey=g1esu5ww8r31yd8dyekcik5iw&st=3b1ht5u5&dl=0>
Records: Florida 5-0; Florida A&M 0-4
Next Up: Friday, 7 p.m., Southern Illinois, SEC Network
Notable
* Will Richard’s 20 points led Florida to the victory as UF matched a team season high with 10 3-pointers made.
* Richard became the fourth transfer in Florida history to surpass 800 points as a Gator, now sitting at 819. He joins Dorian Finney-Smith (1,220), Colin Castleton (1,165) and Jalen Hudson (861) in reaching that milestone.
* The game also marked Richard’s 100th career start, including 70 at Florida and 30 at Belmont.
* Thomas Haugh chipped in a season-high 12 points off the bench to go along with seven rebounds, a career-high three steals and two assists.
* Walter Clayton Jr. scored 17 points and hit 3 of 7 3-point tries. Clayton has made at least one 3-pointer in 28 consecutive games, tying Anthony Roberson for the sixth-longest streak in school history.
* Florida outrebounded FAMU, 47-36, as three Gators snagged nine boards – Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon and Alijah Martin.
* Martin stuffed the box score with 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a steal with no turnovers. Martin shot 7-for-8 from the free throw line, converting both of his “and-1” opportunities.
* Isaiah Brown scored his first career points, finishing with nine. Brown knocked down a pair of first-half 3-pointers and hit 3 of 4 free throws in the second half.
* The Gators have started a season 5-0 for the 20th time in program history and the first time since a 6-0 opening to the 2021-22 season.
Head Coach Todd Golden
Opening statement…
“Look, I thought we played really well in the first half. Thought we did a good job to get a 24-point lead, and I just thought in the second half we let our foot off the gas a little bit, you know? Stylistically, I thought offensively we played pretty well. We didn’t, obviously, we did not shoot it well – missed 15 threes and I thought we allowed that to affect our defense a little bit in the second half, and we fouled way too much on the defensive end, sent them to the line 19 times in the second half. Like I talk about with the guys in the locker room, our expectation is to play two complete halves, play 40 minutes. I thought tonight, we played 20 really good minutes in the first half, and then we were just OK in the second. So, a lot to improve upon, we’ll have some good film to break down with the guys as we prepare for Southern Illinois on Friday.”
On Thomas Haugh’s performance…
“He’s the definition of a winning player, right? He does all the quote-unquote ‘little things’ that impact winning. He’s a guy that can switch defensively, he’s a very good rebounder, a really good ball-mover and facilitator on the offensive end, and hit a couple shots tonight – 12 [points], seven [rebounds], two assists, three steals, you know, just finds ways to impact [the game] and +23 in 28 minutes. But without having Sam [Alexis] tonight, without having Denzel [Aberdeen], obviously our bench was shortened and we needed a guy like Tommy to step up and play more minutes, and we knew he would be up to the task. But he’s fantastic, he comes to play and compete every day and generally gives us a better chance to win when he’s on the floor.”
Freshman G Isaiah Brown
On getting his first collegiate points…
“I mean it was pretty exciting – first college buckets, so great experience.”
On what he saw on the 3-point shots he made…
“I saw Tommy [Haugh] drive and I saw my guy crash and help. I slid to the corner and just thought it was a perfect opportunity to get that shot up.”
Sophomore G Urban Klavžar
On what it’s been like to be playing since being cleared by the NCAA…
“It’s been great. I’ve really waited the last two months to play my first games because I didn’t really know when the first games would be. But it’s been really fun. I enjoy it here, especially at the home crowd. I really like the O’Dome and our fans, so it’s been great.”
On his fancy fastbreak assists and his ability to pass the ball…
“I usually don’t do these passes, but when I have a chance I try them out.”
On how frustrating it was to not know when he’d be able to play…
“It was really frustrating because I didn’t really know when it was going to happen…We worked really hard with our compliance guys and with Coach Todd [Golden] and Jonathan [Safir] kind of keeping me updated with what’s going on, so I think they worked really hard for this. Now it’s great that I’m back.”
Sophomore F Thomas Haugh
On the second half…
“I just don’t think we played our best. Coach was talking to us in the locker room, we gotta celebrate a win, though. At the end of the day, it was a win, but tomorrow we’re gonna get out in practice and we’ll definitely improve on that. That wasn’t our standard here.”
On the high expectations of this team…
“Yeah definitely, I mean that’s our motto…We have to just play how we play. No matter what the competition, just go out there and do what we do. First half we did it, and second half we didn’t as much. We’ll rebound and get back to it.”
On what the team can improve on to help start faster…
“Yeah, it’s usually just feeling the opponent out, but there is always stuff to improve on. We gotta look at the film and dissect that stuff and that’s an emphasis -start fast and get out to a good run. We struggle with that a little bit, but I know we’ll get better at that.”
